CHAPTER 7

The Flames

...

Gaius was sitting in his small chambers, staring out the window. He couldn't see the pyre from there, and he was very glad that he couldn't because if he could, he might just break down. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't even visit Merlin to say goodbye - Uther had forbidden that.

If only there was some kind of potion that could break the handcuffs' powers. But he'd already searched through every book he had, and none of them talked about anything even slightly related to that. He felt hopeless. He didn't know if he could save Merlin from this one, the amount of proof they had on him could not just be erased or forgotten.

He blamed himself. Of course he did. He should have checked Merlin's room the very morning he left. He should have made sure that it was empty of any remaining magical objects, like the staff. He could have hidden it in his own chambers, which Kaunos hadn't been allowed to search through. They would never have found it.

It was all Gaius' fault.

And now Merlin was going to die because of it. His destiny was never going to be fulfilled and Arthur was never going to be the same once Merlin was gone. Of course Gaius noticed that Arthur was missing as well. He was sure that the prince has gone after Merlin, searching for him. Who wouldn't? He loved that boy, that was quite obvious. Gaius knew him since he was born, and he knew that it was love in Arthur's eyes every time he looked at the young warlock.

Just like he knew that Merlin loved Arthur with all his heart. He'd told him himself, after all. And now Merlin was going to die and they could never be together. It was a tragic story, really.

Not only was it tragic – it went against the prophecy. Gaius had never believed that the future was set in stone. But right now, he desperately hoped that it was - that Merlin would not die so young because he was destined for far greater things.

His door opened abruptly and he almost jumped as he turned to look who it was. He was relieved to find Gwen and Arthur standing in his chambers.

"My lord. Gwen," he greeted them. No smile reached his lips though.

"Gaius," Arthur sighed and strode right over to him. "We need to save him. There has to be something, please."

"Uther has moved the execution to tonight," Gwen told him. Her voice was shaking.

Gaius shook his head and his eyes widened. "No," he whispered as he stood up. "No."

"Gaius, is there anything that we can do? Anything at all?" Arthur pleaded. Even though he didn't want anyone to know, Gaius could hear that he was terrified. "Even magic," he added.

Gaius only shook his head again. Merlin was going to die tonight and he couldn't stop it. He'd failed him. He'd failed Hunith. But most of all, he had failed himself. "I haven't found anything about the handcuffs in my books," he told them as he pointed at his table. There were several books still lying open, useless. He didn't even care if anyone saw those forbidden books anymore. "There is no spell or potion to break them."

"Where did Kaunos get them, then?" Arthur asked, rubbing his eyes. "There has to be something . . . If we can't use magic-"

"All handcuffs have a key," Gwen suddenly exclaimed.

Both Arthur and Gaius turned to her with wide eyes as they realized the obvious - she was right.

"Gwen, you're a genius!" Arthur beamed at her. "Gaius, do you know where he might be keeping the key?"

Gaius shrugged. "The only place I can think of are his chambers."

"His chambers are right next to mine," Arthur said, already hurrying back to the door with Gwen close behind. "We need to find it as soon as we can."

"They're already finishing the pyre," Gwen turned to Gaius with tears in her eyes. "They said something about him being Emrys, and they want to- to kill him tonight because of that."

Gaius almost lost his balance as he heard that. "They know," he whispered. Without any other explanation, he looked at them again and nodded. "We have to be careful," he told them. "I'll go with you."

Together they all left the room, frantic and hurried.

Merlin could not die that evening. They wouldn't allow that.

xoXÖXox

Arthur hurried as fast as he could with Gaius behind him and Gwen. They made it to the other side of the castle, through the courtyard, trying not to look at the almost finished pyre and gathering people. His father really was taking this seriously - he believed that with Merlin, all magic would die in the world. Arthur didn't understand how he could think that, nor he understood why they called Merlin Emrys, but he knew that he'd get his answers once they saved him.

And they needed to hurry up.

They made it to the corridor just next to Kaunos' chambers, and all of them stopped. They listened closely, Arthur peeking behind the corner. There was no one in the corridor, so they let Gaius go closer to the door.

Arthur didn't like the idea of using the old man as a distraction for Kaunos, but he and Gwen had a better chance at finding the key quickly in such a short time. And a short time it was, every minute mattered now.

They watched as Gaius reached the door and knocked three times.

The door opened and Kaunos walked outside. Arthur and Gwen immediately hid behind the corner, only listening.

"Gaius," Kaunos said. "What a surprise - aren't you supposed to be down in the courtyard already?"

"I was just on my way there," Arthur heard Gaius reply. "But before I go, I just wanted to ask you . . . Why did you decide to perform the execution tonight rather than tomorrow morning?"

"Ah, that's simple." They heard Kaunos close the door. "Come, I'll tell you on the way. You see, even though I'm sure you've known about the boy's magic the entire time, we didn't know what Merlin truly was and what he's capable of . . . " His voice was quieter and quieter as he walked away with Gaius, taking the bait. It seemed that he loved explaining, especially if it was about how clever he considered himself to be.

Thankfully, they chose to use the corridor in the opposite direction from the one where Arthur and Gwen hid, and so as soon as the sound of Kaunos' voice died, they ran straight to the witchfinder's chambers.

Except that the door was locked.

"No," Arthur cursed under his breath, closing his eyes. Their last hope . . .

"We can try to unlock it with something," Gwen suggested, looking around. She peered at Arthur in scrutiny, probably trying to find out if he was carrying anything narrow enough to fit inside the keyhole.

"Or we can just kick the door," Arthur told her. Before she could say anything though, he objected to his own idea. "That would make noise though."

Gwen nodded.

"I can try this," Arthur reached into his belt and pulled out a little dagger. It was pointy, so it might fit inside the keyhole, but it wasn't long and narrow either.

"This needs to work," Gwen whispered as Arthur wedged the dagger through the door, attempting to wiggle it around. "Please," she added as a plea. The keyhole was too small for the dagger, but Arthur was persistent and he managed to actually reach the lock mechanism inside.

To their luck, the door clicked opened, even though the keyhole now looked destroyed from the outside. They both let out huge sighs of relief and disappeared inside Kaunos' chambers.

Closing the door behind them, they started searching immediately. Gwen went to the bookshelves, trying to find out if any of those books was hollow, and Arthur started searching through Kaunos' belongings, beginning with his table.

As time went on, always ticking faster and faster in his head, the execution fast approaching – he could only grow more frantic, his hands moving erratically and without any sense of coordination. He couldn't help it. His hands were shaking. He was too close to losing Merlin forever and he didn't know if he could save him if he and Gwen didn't find the key.

He couldn't believe that they only had so little time.

He took a deep breath and kept his tears and panic at bay, quickly emptying Kaunos' drawers and throwing his papers around. He kept picking up the pace, desperately trying to hurry, until he suddenly realized that he was practically gasping for breath, his heart racing. He could never live in a world without his idiotic servant and that desperation was driving him forward.

"It has to be here somewhere," Gwen said. She sounded like she was sobbing. And Arthur didn't blame her. He was close to crying himself.

"We need to keep searching," he replied with a very obviously trembling voice.

His cheeks were wet.

And he was sweating.

He moved to Kaunos' bed after finding nothing on the table and he threw away his pillows, his blanket, getting on his knees and looking under the bed and even ripping the pillows apart, looking inside them.

Still nothing.

Nothing.

Where could it be? Where could he be hiding that stupid key?

He moved closer to another table and to the window above it. It was open. Seeing that, it occurred to Arthur that they should probably close it, so as not to attract everyone's attention with all the noise they were making. They were practically destroying Kaunos' chambers - not that Arthur or Gwen cared.

Suddenly, Arthur froze.

Drifting through the open window was a familiar sound - his father's voice. He could hear him and see him down on the balcony with Kaunos standing behind him. Gaius was nowhere to be found - he must have been already standing in the crowd below or he might have left the scene completely. Arthur wouldn't blame him. He himself could never watch something like this happen to Merlin.

"It's already started," Gwen gasped as she heard Uther as well.

"Citizens of Camelot," he began, just as Arthur returned to his frantic search, tearing through the second table again. Gwen returned to the books too, opening them faster than before. "We've gathered here today to witness the execution of a man that we all believed was innocent. He isn't."

Arthur couldn't listen to this. Especially when he spotted Merlin in a cage being taken to the centre of the courtyard, right to the pyre.

Panic gripped his heart.

And the key was still nowhere to be found.

"He's down there," Arthur gasped, but it came out as a sob. He didn't even bother wiping away his tears - he only blinked them away so that he could see what his hands were doing as he returned to his job. He took the entire table in his arms, moving it away from the window and looking all around it.

And there it was.

Under the table, from behind, there was a secret drawer. Arthur tried it and it was locked.

If the key wasn't there, Arthur didn't know what he'd do. He might as well just jump out of the window. His life would lose all meaning without Merlin. He wouldn't be able to survive hearing Merlin's screams anyway.

"This man is guilty of treason, of practicing magic and of causing harm to all of us and to our kingdom," he heard his father say. Arthur barely registered what Uther was saying – they were just words, leading up to the terrible conclusion. "Supposedly, he is the most powerful sorcerer that we have ever seen. It is said that he is magic itself, and once he dies . . . Magic shall die with him."

"Here," Arthur shook with the locked drawer furiously so Gwen would come help him. "I found something," he said. His voice was hoarse with emotion. "It's locked."

Gwen ran to him and looked at the drawer, trying to open it herself.

"Wait," Arthur took the table in his arms again and with as much strength as he had left, he threw it against the floor. Gwen wasted no time in hurrying forward again, reaching down to check the drawer – and she shook her head. Her shoulders were trembling and she was openly sobbing now.

Arthur let out a frustrated growl and took up the table again, throwing it against the floor once more.

They both heard a crack and immediately darted forward to check if the lock was still intact – and saw that the wood was finally splintered.

Without another word exchanged between them, they pulled the drawer open.

And the key was there.

It was there, the way to save Merlin was in his hands. Gwen looked up at him and nodded, rushing toward the window. She covered her mouth with her hand. "They're tying him to the pyre!"

Without saying anything else, Arthur clenched the key in his fist and bolted out of the room.

To save Merlin.

To save their future.

xoXÖXox

" . . . And once he dies . . . Magic shall die with him."

Those were the last words that Uther would ever say to him. The last words that Arthur ever told him were "Don't worry, we'll find Gaius and he'll know what to do". It wasn't an "I love you" as Merlin had wished it would be. He didn't even know why Arthur's last words to him were sticking in his mind so clearly – it was as if in his last moments, he had been memorizing every detail.

And now he would die. But at least he'd die thinking of Arthur. There was nothing else he'd rather die thinking about.

Uther raised his hand in the air and Merlin's heart almost stopped, his throat closing up already – the air seemed too thick to breathe anyway.

This was it.

He was going to die.

And he couldn't be saved. There was no power left in him, nothing that would rid him of those painful handcuffs. He almost didn't register the pain anymore. It was like his fear was so overwhelming, that he forgot about the pain. At this point, it hurt a lot - he'd noticed earlier that his wrists were a little too red, and that wasn't just from the handcuffs. The scratches were understandable, but the way it felt . . . Merlin knew that it was magic.

He didn't tell Arthur about that. He didn't tell Gwen either. It would only give them another thing to worry about – and none of it mattered now, anyway.

Merlin didn't sob. He didn't want to look weak, not in front of Uther. But as Uther's hand fell – coming to rest of the balcony railing as the king stood there, leaning forward to enjoy the view - Merlin didn't even know if that mattered anymore.

Nothing did.

He was lost.

And his destiny would never be fulfilled . . . But maybe that didn't matter anymore either. Maybe Arthur didn't care about him that much, after all - he himself had said that he didn't know if their relationship could ever be fixed.

Merlin would die without knowing if Arthur had ever loved him back. The look in his eyes, the smirk that he only ever wore around Merlin, before the witchfinder came . . . Merlin would never know if any of that meant something. He'd never know if something would have happened between them, had he acted on his feelings sooner.

He watched as the knight took the torch and set it on fire with the help of another knight.

It was amazing how many things he could think about in these last short moments. Before everything went dark and he never had to feel anything, ever again.

He was well aware of his heart beating furiously in his chest. He was almost scared he might have a heart attack, although it was rare at his age. He'd be grateful for that, though - it was much better than being burned alive.

The knight stepped closer to him, with the torch burning in his hands.

Merlin looked away and instead looked into the crowd. Those people . . . Their faces . . . They were so full of anger, confusion and lack of understanding. If only they knew what was happening, if they truly knew who he was . . . But maybe it wouldn't change anything. Some of those people grew up under Uther's reign and agreed with him. They'd never known anything else - a kingdom with magic was foreign to them, terrifying. Merlin didn't blame them. Not after everything that they learned from their leader, after every lie that Uther had fed them and he himself believed.

Only one face was full of sadness and pain.

It was Gaius.

Merlin gasped as he noticed him. His eyes were full of regret and he only shook his head as an apology. Merlin nodded. He didn't blame him for any of this. But if Gaius blamed himself, he deserved to know that Merlin accepted that and forgave him.

There was no hope anymore.

The flames had caught on to the pyre. All that gold dry hay turned red and yellow, the fire eating it, slowly making its way to Merlin's feet.

It was only the matter of minutes now.

More fire, more heat, more pain. Screaming and then silence.

It was getting even harder to breathe. He could still see the people, the courtyard, the smile on his king's face- no, Uther was never his king. Arthur always was. Even if he didn't know that.

Merlin was sweating heavily – his skin was sticky with perspiration, and yet felt dry and burned already. He gasped for air as he stared into the crowd. Gaius wasn't there anymore. But someone was shouting. He could hear it. It sounded like his name. It was too hot for him to register anything, he couldn't think about anything other than the flames getting closer.

But then he heard the knights. And the king, shouting. He heard someone running, their boots hitting the stone ground faster and faster, the sound getting closer to him, to him.

And then he could see him. The gold hair and shining armour could not be mistaken for another knight. Not when he was shouting Merlin's name, looking like an angel here to save him.

"Arth-" Merlin coughed and blinked a few times. It was getting hard to do anything. The fire was almost too close to him, but it hadn't reached him yet.

A sparkle of hope arose in Merlin's heart. Could this not be the end? Could he be saved after all?

There were flames in Arthur's way. But the prince didn't seem to mind that at all because he continued running and no matter how much his father shouted at him, no matter that the knights tried to stop him, Arthur was faster and jumped into the fire with his hand over his mouth.

In the next second, his face was mere inches away from Merlin's. Merlin could feel the sweat running down his face, over his eyelashes and behind his ears. His hair was sticking to his forehead. And even with Arthur's blue eyes right there in front of him, he couldn't smile.

What the hell was he doing? He was going to die there with him!

"You'll-" he coughed, "die here-"

"For once, Merlin, shut up!" Arthur shouted as he ran behind him and grabbed his hands. Merlin wondered if there was even enough space for him between the stake and the fire.

He felt Arthur's hands on the handcuffs, and then something clicked. He couldn't believe it.

He was free.

Free from the handcuffs, but not from the pyre – he was still tied to the stake. Arthur was prepared for that too though. He took a knife and freed Merlin completely, running back in front of him, his eyes glassy and sweat around his lips and under his eyes.

Merlin didn't hesitate. He threw his arms around Arthur, screwing his eyes shut. He couldn't look at the flames anymore. He clutched him tightly with his arms around his waist and his head pressed tightly against Arthur's chest and shoulder. And before he knew it, he felt his magic flare to life once again.

He didn't know any incantation that would help them here. He didn't even know why his first instinct wasn't to just run away from the fire and then deal with the knights. But he let the feeling come. He let his magic prickle at the tips of his fingers as a strange, cold wind surrounded them.

And in the next moment, everything stopped. Uther's shouting, the knights trying to put out the fire with water, the citizens gasping, the flames.

The heat was gone and they weren't in Camelot anymore.

They were standing on a quiet hilltop.

Just the two of them.

Still in a tight embrace.